[2] In the ancient Roman world, the naturalists Pedanius Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder recommended that rue be combined with the poisonous shrub oleander to be drunk as an antidote to venomous snake bites.

[3][4] The refined oil of rue is an emmenagogue[5] and was cited by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder and Soranus as an abortifacient (inducing abortion).

[citation needed] Caterpillars of some subspecies of the butterfly Papilio machaon feed on rue, as well as other plants.

[11] In Sephardic Jewish tradition, ruda is believed to possess protective qualities against malevolent forces, particularly the evil eye.

During Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday marked by fasting, Sephardic synagogues often pass ruda among congregants to revitalise them.

[13] Other Hasidim rely on the works of a famous Baghdadi Kabbalist Yaakov Chaim Sofer who makes mention of the plant "ruda" (רודה) as an effective device against both black magic and the evil eye.

[clarification needed] Rue is generally safe if consumed in small amounts as an herb to flavor food.

[citation needed] Exposure to common rue, or herbal preparations derived from it, can cause severe phytophotodermatitis, which results in burn-like blisters on the skin.

[21] Cell cultures produce the coumarins umbelliferone, scopoletin, psoralen, xanthotoxin, isopimpinellin, rutamarin and rutacultin, and the alkaloids skimmianine, kokusaginine, 6-methoxydictamnine and edulinine.

For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs".Sephardic Jewish tradition has long valued ruda for its diverse applications in health, religious practices, and spiritual well-being.

It was in the Ottoman Balkans, rather than Medieval Spain, that Sephardic Jews encountered ruda and adopted its associated traditions and beliefs.

[12] For Sephardic Jews, Ruda is believed to protect against the evil eye and is often placed near newborns, children, and mothers to ward off harm.

[28] "Chervona Ruta" (Червона Рута—"Red Rue") is a song, written by Volodymyr Ivasyuk, a popular Ukrainian poet and composer.

It is one of the flowers distributed by the mad Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (IV.5): It is used by the clown Lavatch in All's Well That Ends Well (IV.5) to describe Helena and his regret at her apparent death: It was planted by the gardener in Richard II to mark the spot where the Queen wept upon hearing news of Richard's capture (III.4.104–105): It is also given by the rusticated Perdita to her disguised royal father-in-law on the occasion of a sheep-shearing (Winter's Tale, IV.4): It is used by Michael in Milton's Paradise Lost to give Adam clear sight (11.414):